The Montlake Cut's original name was Erickson Cut. Contractor C.J. Erickson commenced the big project in turning on his big steam shovel in celebration of the October 27, 1909, post A-Y-P Exposition era, in the final push to complete the Lake Washington Canal project. At the ceremony were Judge Roger S. Greene, Judge Thomas Burke, J.S. Brace and John H. McGraw who turned the first shovel of dirt that day.

The Duwamish called the area "Carry a Canoe" (Lushootseed: sxWátSadweehL). Indigenous people had been portaging between the lakes for centuries, either carrying canoes or shoving them along an intermittent creek that appeared when Lake Washington overflowed.[2]